Stay on demolition of Nazarbaug Palace extended

Gujarat high court on Tuesday extended stay on demolition of Vadodara’s Nazarbaug Palace till June 12 even as the petitioner filed a contempt plea, accusing the civic body of not following the HC orders and not stopping the demolition even after the court order was served on them.

Petitioner’s advocate Dipan Desai contended that the civic body and other parties concerned did not obey court orders and continued with destruction of the historic building. To this, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation denied that the demolition work continued even after the order was served on respondents, including Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad.

Earlier, the owner had moved the HC questioning the civic body’s move barring demolition of the palace. He had objected to VMC’s notice asking him to stop the demolition work. He claimed that it is a private property and the civic authorities should not intervene.

Later, Intach Gujarat co-convener Sanjeev Joshi and IIA Vadodara secretary Mihir Parikh filed a PIL against the demolition. They contended that Nazarbaug was a part of the city’s heritage and deemed heritage under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act.